Prominent whistleblowers to speak at JMU ethics event

A pair of prominent whistleblowers, one who exposed the
White House’s improper editing and censorship of science program reports on
global warming and the other who unmasked a warrantless wiretapping program run
by the George W. Bush administration, will speak at James Madison University
7-9 p.m. Tuesday, April 9. The discussion, which is free and open to the
public, will be held in Room 1302 of the Health and Human Services Building on
the JMU campus east of Interstate 81.

Rick Piltz and Thomas Tamm are speakers for the
"American Whistleblower Tour: Essential Voices for Accountability"
organized by the Government Accountability Project, the nation’s leading
whistleblower protection and advocacy organization. Their visit to JMU aligns
with the mission of The Madison Collaborative: Ethical Reasoning in Action.

Piltz is a former senior associate in the coordination
office of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. In 2005, he blew the whistle
on the White House’s improper editing and censorship of science program reports
on global warming intended for the public and Congress. Piltz released edited
reports to The New York Times that
documented the improper editing, which downplayed the reality of human-driven
global warming and its harmful impacts. The changes also introduced an element
of scientific uncertainty that had not been part of the original reports.

Tamm was a well-regarded Justice Department attorney in the
capital cases unit who, in 2003, transferred to the Office of Intelligence
Policy and Review. While working there, Tamm became aware of a program that
bypassed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court in an arrangement
where only the attorney general would sign certain wiretap requests, sans
review. After Tamm’s inquiries about the program repeatedly ran into walls of
silence, he contacted The New York Times,
which in 2005 ran an explosive Pulitzer Prize-winning cover story about the
George W. Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. The program
was part of wide-ranging covert surveillance activities authorized by President
Bush in the aftermath of 9/11.

The discussion will be moderated by GAP President Louis
Clark, who has spent more than 35 years at GAP protecting whistleblowers.

Dr. Ming Ivory, JMU professor of integrated science and
technology, said, "As future employees of private-sector businesses,
government agencies and nonprofit organizations, JMU students at times will
have to assess the benefits and risks of sharing information without official
authorization. As this whistleblower panel will make clear, sometimes employees
face vital decisions about whether loyalty to the organizational mission, to
fellow employees or to the general public is of central importance. During this
panel session, students can rehearse in their own minds what their obligations
to the public, to their place of work or to their own ethical values would
argue that they do."

The event is the 10th tour stop held this academic year. The
2012-13 tour has also been to the University of Houston-Clear Lake, Whitman
College, Franklin & Marshall College, Auburn University, Florida
International University, American University, University of the District of
Columbia, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Indiana
University-Bloomington.

In addition to the Madison Collaborative, the event is being
sponsored by three academic departments: integrated science and technology;
political science; and writing, rhetoric and technical communication.